Lukman Olabiyi
Justice Babatunde Quadri of the Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday ordered the final forfeiture of $300,000, belonging to a Chinese national, Li Yan Pin, to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The judge had earlier ordered the interim forfeiture of the money following an exparte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) .
Yan Pin stood trial for a money laundering charge, levelled against him by the EFCC over the said sum after intelligence led to his arrest at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for failing to declare the sum in his possession, as he attempted to board a flight to China en-route Dubai.
In a related development, Justice J.E. Iyang of the Federal High Court, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State has convicted and sentenced Muhammad Halim Ogbobio, self-styled coordinator of Bayelsa State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, to 28 years imprisonment.
The convict, who allegedly paraded himself as the coordinator of Muslim Pigrims Welfare Board from 2009-2012, was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Port Harcourt Zonal office, on March 19, 2015 on a 5-count charge bordering on forgery and obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N12,130,000.00 in bogus hajj fees.